WVU Administrator to establish
graduate student fund

Morgantown, WV, August 21, 2006:  Dr. Robert E. Stitzel, long-time WVU professor, researcher, and administrator, has directed a bequest to West Virginia University to establish a support fund available to doctoral students in several of the University's Colleges and Schools.

The endowment, which will be administered by the WVU Foundation, Inc., will support at least one doctoral student each year. The purpose of the award will be to further a student's progress toward a Ph.D. degree at WVU. The award may be used for expenses such as travel, training, research, and professional development.

Doctoral candidates from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, College of Human Resources and Education, Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Consumer Science, and the School of Pharmacy will be eligible to apply for assistance through this fund. Selection of successful candidates will be made by the Director of University Graduate Education at WVU.

The fund will be known as The Robert E. Stitzel Graduate Student Support Fund. Dr. Stitzel joined the faculty of WVU's School of Medicine in 1965 and has served the University in many capacities: as professor and associate chair of biochemistry and molecular pharmacology in the School of Medicine; Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Pharmacology; a member of the WVU Research Corporation's Board of Directors; special assistant to the Provost for Academic Affairs and Research; and Director of University Graduate Education.

"Bob Stitzel, through the course of his long career at WVU, has seen first-hand the special needs of graduate students as they progress through their doctoral programs," said Dr. Rudolph P. Almasy, associate dean for development in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. "He understands how the type of financial support intended by this fund makes a difference in the professional development of students. All of us at WVU are deeply grateful for Bob's generosity."

Stitzel earned a Ph. D. from the University of Minnesota in 1964. He is married to Judith Gold Stitzel, a retired English professor and founding director of the WVU Center for Women's Studies.

The WVU Foundation, Inc., is a private, non-profit organization which develops, receives, and administers private gifts from individuals and organizations for the benefit of West Virginia University.

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